Opioids are highly effective as analgesics and are commonly prescribed for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. For example, they are also commonly used as antitussives. Opioids, however, also produce euphoria and are highly addictive. As a result, they are often abused with potentially far reaching social and health related consequences.
Because of the inherent potential for abuse, it is desirable that any pharmaceutical composition containing an opioid agonist be made as abuse-resistant or abuse-deterrent as practical. Illicit users often will attempt to circumvent the extended release properties of opioids by injecting or otherwise misusing the pharmaceutical composition in order to achieve an immediate release of the opioid agonist.
Despite their addictive properties and the potential for abuse, morphine-like drugs, particularly, codeine and hydrocodone have been routinely prescribed as treatment for severe acute and chronic pain in recent decades. This is, in part, because there are no alternatives to relieve severe pain (that is resistant to other less potent analgesics such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)). In this regard, there is a need to decrease the abuse potential while still achieving pain relief. Thus far, conventional approaches taken, unfortunately, have not provided a solution.
Hydrocodone is an opioid analgesic and antitussive and occurs as fine, white crystals or as crystalline powder. Hydrocodone is a semisynthetic narcotic analgesic prepared from codeine with multiple actions qualitatively similar to those of codeine. It is mainly used for relief of moderate to moderately severe pain. Additionally, it is used as an antitussive in cough syrups and tablets in sub-analgesic doses (e.g., 2.5-5 mg).
Patients taking opioid analgesics such as hydrocodone for pain relief can become unintentionally addicted. As tolerance to the opioids develops, more drug is needed to alleviate the pain and generate the sense of well-being initially achieved with the originally prescribed dose. This leads to dose escalation, which if left unchecked can rapidly lead addiction. In some cases patients have become very addicted in as little as thirty days.